Burial vault



June 14,-1960 J. H. cooK 2,940,156

BURIAL VAULT Filed sept. 27, 1957 fyg f IN V EN TOR.

'lnited States Patent O Y BURIAL VAULT l John Hubbard Cook, 2220 San Jose, Fort Worth, Tex.

Filed Sept. 27, 1957, Ser. No. 686,695 3 claims. (C1. zii-.35)

My invention relates to burial vaults, and more particularly to light weight burial vaults of novel and improved structure, and having features not vheretofore known in the art.

ln accordance with the prior art which I am aware, burial Vaults are commonly made of concrete or heavy metal structure. Such vaults are very heavy and diicult to handle, and are subject to rather serious deterioration with time. Concrete vaults are difficult to waterproof, and metal vaults are quite expensive. While some attempts have been made to construct vaults out of lighter weight materials, such as wood and plastic combinations, and in some cases, plastic alone, these have not proved satisfactory, either because of high costs due to complexity of the required manufacturing procedures, or because of failure to meet minimum structural strength requirements.

lt is accordingly a general object of my invention to provide an improved light weight burial vault.

Another object of my invention is to provide a light weight burial vault which is economical to manufacture and which fully meets requirements as to structural strength.

Another object of my invention is to provide a light weight burial vault which is fully waterproofed and which is not subject to objectionable deterioration with time.

Another object of my invention is to provide a light weight burial vault which can be readily sealed at grave side before lowering, and wherein the sealing of the grave requires only one lift operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide a light weight burial vault which requires no sealing hardware.

Another object of my invention is to provide a light weight burial vault which will nest for convenient shipping in quantity.

Another object of my invention is to provide a light weight burial vault of novel structure.

These and other objects are edected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description taken in accordance with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. l is a schematic perspective view showing the burial vault of my invention with the base separated from the cover;

Fig. 2 is a section View taken at lines 2 2 of Fig. i; and f Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are detail section views taken respectively at lines 3 3, 4 4, 5 5, and 6 6, of Fig. l.

The burial vault shown in the drawings is made up of two main elements, namely a body or cover 11 and a base 13. The entire burial vault, with the exception of the carrying handles, is made of breglass reinforced polyester resin. The base 13 is a rectangular in horizontal cross section, with rounded corners. The base comprises a platform 15, side walls 17, end walls 19, an upturned peripheral ange 21, and transverse brace members 23. The base platform 15 is suitably dimensioned to receive the casket (not shown) which is to be 2,946,156 Patented June 14, 1960 ice housed in the vault. The base side walls 17 and the end walls 19 depend from the platform 15 and diverge outwardly therefrom at a small angle, for example about 5 degrees. The peripheral ange 21 is integral with the bottoms of the base side and end walls 17, 19 andv extends upwardly and outwardly therefrom at a small angle. The ange 21, together with the base walls 17, 19 forms a trough 25 having a curved bottom and extending con-y tinuously around the base 13. The upper extent of the dange 21 is made approximately half the base height. Each brace member 23 aforementioned, has a transverse cross section in the form of a dat-bottomed U, with a pair of side flaps 27 extending outwardly from lthe upper ends of the U parallel to the bottom thereof. The brace members 23 are located mutually parallel at spaced intervals on the under side of the platform 15 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof. The side aps 27 of each brace member are integrally bonded to the platform underside 29, and the ends are shaped to conform to the inner surfaces of the base sidewalls 17 and are integrally bonded thereto. The bottoms 31 of the brace members 23 and the bottom of the ange 21 all lie substantially in a common plane, so that they all act as bearing surfaces for the base 13. A

The burial vault body or cover 11 comprises sidewalls 33, end walls 35, a top 37, top ribs or stiifeners 39, han# die supports 41, and carrying handles 43. The. cover 11 is generally rectangular shaped in horizontal cross section, with rounded corners. The top 3-7 is arched in transverse cross section, as shown by Figs. l and 2, and is sloped at the ends as shown by Fig. y1. The lower extremity of the top 37 merges with the top portions of the cover side and end walls 33,35 which depend therefrom and extend outwardly at a small angle.` The lower portions of the side and end walls 33, 35 are ,provided with an outwardly extending offset 45 which extends continuously around the cover periphery except at the handle supports 41. The inner wall 47 of the offset just mentioned mates with the base side and end walls 17, 19, the offset being at a level such that its inner shoulder 49 bears on the edge of the base platform 13 and the cover bottom bears on the floor of the base trough 2S when the cover 11 is positioned on the base 13. The cover side walls 33 are provided with a plurality of offset portions 5l, preferably three for each side wall, in the form of arches. Each cover side wall arch 51 is disposed with its base on a line with the top surface of said outwardly extending peripheral cover offset 45 aforementioned. The peak of each said arch 51 terminates at a respective point just below the upper extremity of a respective cover side wall 33. The arches 51 are lsymmetrically disposed along the respective side wall length. The outward extent of the arch offset 51` is Vpreferably made approximately half that of the peripheral offset 45. Each rib, or stiener, 39, has a transverse cross section generally in the form of a V, with a pair of side flaps 53 extending outwardly from the upper ends of the V perpendicular to a bisector of the V. The ribs 39 are archedv to conform to the contour of the inner surface 55 of the cover top 37, and are symmetrically disposed mutually parallel at spaced intervals transverse to the llong dimension of the cover top 37. Preferably, there is a rib 39 centered above each cover side wall arch 51. The lower extremities of each rib 39 terminate at the respective point just above the upper extremity of a respective cover side wall 33. The side iaps S3 of each rib are integrally bonded to the inner surface 55 of the cover top 37. There is a pair of lhandle supports 41 spaced apartand symmetrically disposed and extending outwardly from each cover end wall 35. Each handle suppor-t 41 has a transverse cross section in the form of a flat-bottomed VV as* shown by Fig. 4. Each handle support is disposed so that a longitudinal bisector plane is perpendicular'to the bottom edge of the cover 11.V The size of the handle support transverse cross section diminishes from bottom to top, so that the top `of the .handle support 4Lmerges. with the 'cover Aend wall 435aljacent its upper extremity.

I of about 5 degrees of inward The lower` end Vofveachjhandle support 41 terminates at Y theflevel ofthe ledge formed by the cover peripheral olfset1j45. YAs will be hereinafter more fully explained,

the, handle supports 41 are formed,V as an integral part'of the coverlfl, and the lower Vend portionsrthen cut off at the level above' mentioned. This operation leaves 'a V- In"Y construction of Vthe burialjvault of my invention, n the base 1,3'lessV the transverse brace members 23 is all made in one piece, and the cover 11 less the ribs 39, overlay pieces 57, and carrying handles 43 is all made` in one piece. Iny construction of the base 13, a form is used whichY isV built to have the same contour as the finished Y base, Iexcept-in reverse.

A parting lm is rst sprayed onto the form; then the desired exterior finish, for example paint, is applied to the'lm; then a'layer ofpolyester resin is applied onto' the finish; then a layer. of breglass cloth is applied to theifirst layer of polyester resin; then a second layer of polyester resin is applied to the cloth; then thestructure is built up to the desired thickness by applying layers of tibreglass mat and polyester resin inalternation; then a VV4 Y Y- Y taper in the direction of part separation to' facilitate removalof 4the' part from the form.

Use of the burial vault of my invention simplifies grave side procedures because the base can be placed on the conventional casket lowering mechanism, then the casket Von the base for the usual graveside services, after which the cover is placed on the base before lowering, and the Y vault is sealed by simply placing activated polyester resin in the base trough. VThe ysealed vault is then lowered into the grave by the conventional casket llowering mechanism, dispensing with the requirement-for Y a separate special hoistthat would be needed in the case'V of a concrete or heavy metal vault. j

A nother advantage of the burial vault of my invention is that it is light in weight, and the covers can be nested for shipment, thus saving on shipping costs in general, and also making quantity air-,shipment feasible. The

Y construction ofthe-burial,:vault'of my invention .also

makesit economically V'feasible to stockpile quantities of them for possiblese indisa'ster areas, in which case they could b e easily and quickly transported'tofthe disaster Varea and if desired, could be used asV casket Yand burialvvaultL combined. Y.. i

The. burial 'vault of my :inventionnotfonly is strong,

Y impervious to moisture, not lsubiect'to Vobjectionable deteoration Vwith time, andV requires no sealing hardware, but also is attractive, andis relativelygeconomical to manufacture.

While I havershown my'invention in only one form, it will be obvious/to those skilledyin the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and e modicationswthout Ydeparting .from the spiritv thereof.

layerof tbreglass cloth is applied to the last'exposed A layer of polyester resin; and then a final layer of polyester resin is applied to the cloth layer last mentioned. ""The actual process of building up a structure of fibre- Y glass Vreinforced polyester resin is well known in the art and then join them, and they become integrally xed one tothe other when the activated resin sets. -K In construction of the cover 11, a form'is` used'which 'is built to have same Vcontour as the finished cover, except in reverse.l A parting film is iirst Vapplied onto the form, the desired I claim: Y l. A burial vault comprising,.a baseincluding a platform, sideand'endwalls'depending from said platform and integral therewith, a peripheral flange extending all around said base and integralat its bottom with the bottoms of said walls,.said flange and the lower portions of said walls together forming a peripheralY trough, and reinforcing means xed to said platform and said walls; a cover comprisingal top,V side and end-walls. integral Y with said'top and depending therefrom, a peripheral olfexterior finish is Aapplied to the film, and then the cover is "built up to the desiredY thickness in the same manner as described above in connectionv with the base construction. VAfter the cover is removed from its form, the

handlecsupports V41, which originally extend allV the way down tothe cover vend wall bottom edge, are cut off at approximately the level of the top of the peripheral olfslotsare covered completely with previously prepared overlay pieces'57'whicl1 are appliedY to the inside surface 59' of thevend wall` 35 lbefore the cover Vis removed from tsfform.V Ahole is cut inleach handle Vsupport 41 at its lower end portion at av common level andftransversely .of

the respective support.- 'A carryin'ghandle 43 is received by each pair of said holes'infthe manner hereinbefore stated'. 'I`l'1`eribs'39 are built up on a separate form and are fixed' to the inside surface`55 ofthe cover top 37 before the cover11 has been removed from its form', m the positions 'heretofore described. It' should be men-V tioned that generally', the forms sheurld have a set at the lower portions vof said side and end walls and extending) outwardly therefrom,with the inner Ysurface ofsaid olfsetmatching the contour .of the outer surface of said base side and end walls, withthe inner shoulder of said offset -adaptedtobear'on said platform and the lower edge of-sad-of'setbearng on the bottom of said trough when saidrcover is in place on said base, a plurality of second outwardly extending offsets in each said. cover side Wall, each said last mentioned offset extending to.. a level-adjacentlthe side wall upper extent and merging at its bottom with said peripheral offset, portions of said cover end walls being formed to provide outwardly extending .protrusions adapted to Vserve as handle supports, an overlay piece made of breglass and xed integrally to the. inside-surface ofsaid respective end wall for each Vsaid protrusion, said overlay piece completely Ycovering vlthejopening inV saidV end wall surface caused by the forming of the respective protrusion, with each said overlay pieceextending Ydcpuvn tol the level of the lower edge of said respective end wall, saidv cover, saidbase, and .said reinforcing-.means being made f2, The inventief Yin accordance with claim l, wherein there. yis a pair: o f' said, handle Vsupport, .protrusions' formed in each end'lwall, .with .the pro'tnisions of ,each'fpair extendingmutirally yparallel and spaced? and perpendicular tothe bottom .'edgeof said cover, `each saidprotrusion having a transverse cr'oss section in the form of 'a flat bottomed Vfwth said cross" section diminishing in size in the direction/from. bottomto top and mergingk at its top"wit`h' said respective endfwall Vadjacent the upper extent thereof, 'tht-lower dse gf Sadgprotmsion terminating adjacent the level of the upper edge of said peripheral oset.

3. A burial vault comprising, a base including a platform, side and end walls depending from said platform and integral therewith, a peripheral ange extending all around said base and integral at its bottom with the bottoms of said walls, said ange and the lower portions of said walls together forming a peripheral trough, and reinforcing means fixed to said platform and said walls, said reinforcing means including a plurality of support members made of berglass reinforced polyester resin and each having a generally hat-bottomed U-shaped transverse cross section with a pair of side aps extending outwardly from the top edges of said U, said members being disposed mutually parallel at spaced intervals transversely of the long dimension of said base, with said flaps integrally joined to the inner surface of said base platform and their ends conforming in contour and integrally joined through a respective base sidewall, the bottoms of said members lying in a common plane, which includes the bottom surface of said base trough; a cover comprising a top, side, and end walls integral with said top and depending therefrom, a peripheral oiset at the lower portions of said side and end walls and extending outwardly therefrom, with the inner surface of said olfset matching the contour of the outer surface of said base, side, and end walls, with the inner shoulder of said oiset adapted to bear on said platform and the lower edge of said offset being on the bottom of said trough when said cover is in place on said base, a plurality of second outwardly extending offsets in each said cover sidewall each said last-mentioned offset extending to a level adjacent the sidewall upper extent and merging at its bottom with said peripheral offset; said cover and said base being made of fiberglass reinforced polyester resin.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,260,927 McKinney Mar. 26, 1918 1,373,915 Schafer Apr. 5, 1921 2,192,104 Reynolds Feb. 27, 1940 2,247,617 Metz July 1, 1941 2,806,278 Crump Sept. 17, 1957 OTHER REFERENCES Plastics (The Embalmers Monthly), March 1945, pages 24 and 26.

(Casket and Sunnyside), vol. 86, No. 8, August 1956, page 27. 

